


Summer Hijacked by Mysteries

by Monodoof



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monodoof/pseuds/Monodoof
Summary: Just a little something I whipped up last year for Hijack March Madness. A Gravity Falls AU of our boys. Not a retelling of the show, but a completely different story sharing common elements from the show.





	1. Chapter 1: Journal

**Author's Note:**

> hey so theres this thing i made for Hijack March Madness on Tumblr and it sort of grew into a series. im not really putting a lot of priority on this so updates will be scarce. Hope you all enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Journal**

 

Another lazy Summer day greeted the small waterback town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. And as routine would dictate, Hiccup once again scored a bullseye on the dart’s board across the room. For the fiftieth time this day. And it was only noon.

 

Hiccup hated how boring it got around these parts, and most of all he hated how boring his work was. It’s not like he hated the library, no, he loved being surrounded by books. But this place hardly saw any traffic, most likely due to the fact that the population of Gravity Falls was especially dedicated to not learn or read anything at all. So once he finished doing all his assigned chores he was basically sitting on his desk all day with nothing to do.

 

The fact that his boss didn’t even object to putting a dartboard on a shelf opposite to his desk pretty much told him his boss understood the boredom of this job. In fact, his boss didn’t even come to work most of the time.  
And it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything better to do in town. He didn’t dislike living in Gravity Falls. Quite contrary, he liked the town. But it could use some more energy, that’s for sure.

 

With a sigh, he threw another dart without even trying. But that dart never made it to the board as something, no, someone snatched it out of the air deftly. Hiccup blinked once before he was faced by a head full of white hair, a stunning pair of blue eyes, and the most smug smile one could ever see in town.

 

“Heeeey Hic! You busy?”, greeted the white haired boy, completely ignoring the “no yelling at a library” rule. Not that it would have bothered anyone; the place was empty as ever.

 

“Hey, Jack. Yup, pretty busy as you can tell. These darts aren’t going to throw themselves.”, answered the eighteen year old with a shrug.

 

This was Jack “Frost” Overland. One of the few teens that lived in this sleepy town, and also one of the few inhabitants that gave the much needed spark of excitement to it. Granted, this jackass was probably like, the 90% source of that spark, for the white-haired teen was a bundle of energy, bad puns and laughs. Even so, through his years living on this town, Hiccup had come to befriend and trust this rambunctious teenager; Jack was more than smiles and carefree gallivanting. Under that blue hoodie that he always wore no matter the weather was an understanding, gentle soul who would do anything for his friends and a surprising loneliness that he masked with laughter and jokes. Over the years, they had grown close and shared many things, people often joking that they acted like a married couple more than best friends.

 

Hiccup wished it were like so, but those feelings… had no place. It was just a silly… misguided… MASSIVE crush. No big deal. He had harbored these feelings for quite a long time, but he had never acted on them. Jack was a massive flirt to anyone he was friends with and Hiccup had certainly been the victim of some of his comments, but he knew he never meant anything. He was just playing around. So he knew his feelings weren’t reciprocated. No, confessing and everything blowing up in his face, ruining his deep friendship like so? He’d rather not take the risk.

 

“That’s a darn shame, Hic…”, said Jack as he fiddled with the dart with his fingers before pocketing it on the front pocket of his hoodie. “Because I was hoping you could make some time in your busy schedule to hang out with me today.”

 

Hiccup exaggeratedly ran a hand through his hair, feigning reluctance. “Geez, Jack… I dunno… My boss would flail me alive if he found out I neglected my "gazing-vacantly-at-these-shelves” duties for the day… and I have a lot of “tapping-my-fingers-to-this-tune-i-made-up-to-not-fall-asleep” chores I have to attend to and…“

 

As Hiccup trailed off, Jack snorted. "Come on, you big dork! You know no one comes here at all!”, he clapped his hands together. “Please? I’m so bored of throwing rocks at Sheriff Bluffs and avoiding them! Do I have to beg?”

 

I would like that I mean no, stop Haddock.

 

Once again, Hiccup faked reluctance, pursing his lips and cocking his head, as if he were heavily thinking about it. “Aww… but I would totally get in so much nonexistent trouble… Aw what the hell! Let’s go.”

 

“Glad to see you’re finally wising up.”, said Jack with a big grin on his pale face, quickly catching up to the taller teen who had jumped over the desk almost effortlessly despite the prosthetic on his left leg.

 

“Says the one that is constantly flunking math.”, shot back Hiccup as they left the library.

 

“Hey! I’m smart! I’m just… street smart.”, argued Jack back.

 

Well, Hiccup couldn’t argue against that.

 

===

 

“So, what’s this thing you wanted to show me so badly?”, asked Hiccup as the duo made its way to the outskirts of town, the brunet kicking an empty can of Pitt Cola into a nearby abandoned building.

 

“You’ll see, you’ll see! Don’t let anxiety eat you up, young grasshopper!”, said Jack in a horrible old man impression.

 

“Anxiety? I’m not anxious.”, answered the freckled teen, but that was half a lie.

He was pretty relaxed on the library, not really worried about missing his shift. Today was one of the days his boss never checked up on him, and even though he had been caught skipping his shift some times (because this wasn’t the first time Hiccup had let Jack rope him in on an adventure), his boss was also very understanding and he never got in trouble. Traffic in the library was THAT dead, and Hiccup was otherwise a perfect employee.

 

But now that they were leaving town and heading into the nearby woods, Hiccup started to worry, but for a different completely reason.

 

Gravity Falls was a perfectly normal and relaxing town, true… but sometimes, Hiccup swore he saw… stuff. Weird stuff. And not weird like “a dog wearing a swimsuit” weird or “finding your teacher buying a watermelon and a hammer” weird. Weird as in… weird. Like small bearded men… or floating eyeballs that vanished when you turned to see them.

 

And the woods nearby Gravity Falls had this… aura to them. Hiccup swore he heard things, saw things in there that shouldn’t exist.

 

But no one believed him. Not even Jack.

 

So over time he tried to suppress the sightings, act as if nothing had ever happened. But coming to this part of town was hard. It was here were he was taunted by a reality he was unaware of.

 

Jack knew his friend a lot by now, so he was aware that Hiccup had lied to him. With a playful jab on the ribs with his elbow, an action that made Hiccup jump a little, the white haired teen chuckled before speaking up. “Sure you are! You’re so tense I bet the slightest breeze could snap you on two, you twig.”

 

“Takes one to know one…”, shot back Hiccup, a slight pout appearing on his face.

 

“Relax dude! We won’t go to the spooky part of the forest or whatever!”, reassured Jack with a big smile before turning the expression into a softer, gentler one. “If you want, I can hold your hand? Would that make you feel safer?”

 

Hiccup started to blush furiously. “D-Don’t patronize me, dude… it’s not funny.”, stammered the taller of the two, feeling self-conscious. He hated that part of himself, not being outgoing enough.

 

“Nah dude, I’m not teasing you! Honest.”, said Jack, no hint of mock or taunt on his voice, looking completely serious. “I want you to enjoy yourself, and hey, if holding hands will calm you down, I’m OK with that. It’s up to you.”

 

Hiccup didn’t have any words for this situation. He just was… so touched. Jack was being a genuine friend, putting Hiccup before himself. Hiccup kinda wished this meant that Jack had something for him; You just don’t ask your best male friend to hold your hand. But he also knew this was just how Jack was; he would do anything to make anyone happy, even if it was weird or bad for him.

 

Selfishly, Hiccup took his hand. This was probably the only time he would ever get to hold his crush’s hand. And the thought did calm him down. Relishing on the feeling of cool skin, Hiccup wrapped his hand around the slender yet strong form of his best friend’s hand. And squeezed it for good measure.

 

Hiccup gave Jack a nervous smile before breathing out a small “thanks, man.”

Jack merely smiled at him, his blue eyes full of gentleness before he abruptly turned around and started to lead the brunet deeper into the woods. “C'mon man! We’re burning daylight here! Let’s go!”

 

Hiccup couldn’t help but to let himself be led onward.

 

===

 

“So what do you think?”, asked Jack, looking expectant as he let go of Hiccup’s hand, an act that almost made the brunet whimper. Almost.

 

Hiccup took a look at what Jack was showing him. “Freaky.” was all he could answer.

 

For before them was a patch of weirdly shaped trees. And by weirdly, he meant very much so. Hiccup had never seen trees bent in shapes like these. Some of the trees were growing upright before suddenly bending halfway through, the rest of the plant growing sideways. Some of them had gnarled branches that looked like claws. Almost all of them had two pairs of wholes near the crown of leaves and some had roots that were shaped like clawed, deformed feet. And all around this particular set of trees was a distinctive circle etched on the ground, dead grass working as the outline for it. It was very unsettling. Hiccup had never been to this part of the forest before.

 

The silence that had fallen between the teens was interrupted by Jack, who started to stretch all of a sudden. “Very much so.”

 

“So, Hic… wanna climb these bad guys? I bet I can jump from that one to the next one pretty easily.”, said the white haired teen confidently as he pointed to a tree that was bent over.

 

“I dunno man…”, answered the brunet. He had this nagging feeling something was… off. But he didn’t know exactly what.

 

“C'mon dude! You’re gonna leave me here all by my lonesome, having the time of my life? That’s harsh, Hic.”, said Jack.

 

“But-”, began Hiccup before he was interrupted.

 

“Please! Just for a little while? Pleeeease?”, said Jack, practically begging as he pulled on Hiccup’s hand.

 

“Fine! Just… stop doing the puppy eyes, OK? I hate it when you do that!”, said Hiccup with a huff as he walked over a tree that didn’t look so freaky.

 

“Hehehe… the puppy eyes always work…”, said Jack as he rubbed his hands and walked over to the bent-over tree.

 

The white-haired teen started to rock on the balls of his feet, sizing up the jump he needed to make to reach the lowest hanging branch. It took him all but one to second to gauge how much force he needed to put on his jump before he crouched down and with a practiced movement, he sprang up and grabbed a thick branch hanging low. With a swift motion, he pulled himself up effortlessly, barely grunting, and from his new vantage point he smirked at his friend.

“Guess who is the king of the world now, Hic?”

 

“I dunno, probably some white dude on a city that actually matters.”, answered Hiccup with a biting sarcasm that Jack had come to expect.

 

“Hardy har. Why don’t you put your body to use and get up here with me?”, shot back Jack as he patted a spot on the branch next to him.

 

“I don’t think that branch can support us both, dude.”, answered Hiccup as he scratched the back of his head. “I’ll find another tree and then I’ll guess we’ll meet up uh…” continued the brunet as he looked for a nice, big tree strong enough to support them both. “How about that one?”

 

Jack nodded. “Sure, fine by me.”, a playful glint appeared on his eyes. “Last one there has to do Snotlout’s homework for a week!” and with that, the white teen took off, deftly running from his branch to another, jumping between them as if it was second nature to him.

 

“Jack, that’s cheating! I haven’t even climbed my tree yet!”, whined Hiccup, but all he got in response was a loud laugh from the other male. The brunet huffed; it’s not like he wasn’t confident in his own tree-climbing skills. Over the years he had evolved from his clumsy younger self to a probably athletic young man although there was a limit to how much his lean build could do. Still, he could give a Jack a run on his money… sometimes. That guy was athletic by nature and he had endless amounts of energy.

 

There was no way he was going to catch up to him, though. He had a big start as an advantage and to be honest, Hiccup wasn’t in the mood for climbing. But he didn’t want to upset Jack by making him think he wasn’t enjoying himself so he would at least make a half-hearted attempt. The freckled teen went to normal looking tree and began to look for a way to hold on to it and start his climb…

 

When he stopped as soon as he touched the tree. For it felt cold… and hard and smooth. Curious, Hiccup looked at the trunk of the tree closely and soon enough realized something; this tree wasn’t real at all. A knock on the bark said as much as a metallic thud came from it. Curiously enough, the tree sounded… hollow. Further investigation revealed a hatch-like door on a surface of the tree and against all better judgement, Hiccup pulled on it and with a grunt… it gave away, revealing a small chamber inside it and within… a strange contraption.

 

An antenna, a broken display and some levers adorned the machine. This was weird… What was something like that doing here? Excitement and worry bubbled inside Hiccup’s chest. This… this was like living proof that something weird was going on in this town and though he was scared… his natural curiosity made him reckless. Hiccup fiddled with the contraption but got no reaction from it. That is… until he flipped a switch and a metallic groan behind him made the brunet jump.

 

Warily, Hiccup walked to the source of the sound. On the grass a hatch had opened, revealing a similar chamber lined in a metallic finish that was clearly new in comparison to the machine Hiccup had seen… but that wasn’t the most remarkable thing. No… what caught Hiccup’s attention was what was inside the chamber; a really old-looking journal, encased in reddish leather and with a golden, six-fingered hand with a 3 emblazoned on its cover.

 

Completely taken in by the mystery in front of him, Hiccup took the journal out and briefly looked at a monocle that fell out of the book before opening it slowly. His eyes glanced over the yellow pages, tears and cuts on the edges of them. He began reading the author’s note, who had all but the name of the owner on it.

 

“ _It’s been thirty years since I began investigating the odd properties of Gravity Falls, Oregon. I have documented my findings in this journal…”_

 

Compelled even further to read, Hiccup flipped through the pages and he felt his heart race. Gnomes, Floating Eyeballs, Zombies… all weird, supernatural things, carefully detailed and drawn on the pages of this journal, supplemented with photographs and strings of numbers. This, this was evidence that Hiccup wasn’t losing his mind. That all the things he swore he saw and that others dismissed as nonsense were actually real; someone had scientifically studied the so called anomalies. This… this was real.

 

Hiccup kept flipping through the pages until he suddenly reached the end, where a hastily written passage was left:

 

_“Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed; I’m being watched. I must hide my journals so that they don’t fall in the wrong hands. Remember, in Gravity Falls there is no one you can trust.”_

Those last words, underlined severely, resonated on Hiccup’s mind.

 

“No one you can trust, huh…”, said Hiccup in a low voice. Why would the author of these books suddenly decide this? What had happened to the author? Was he or she alive?

 

These thoughts were interrupted when a very familiar and loud voice came from behind him.

 

“Whatcha lookin’ at there, Hic?”

 

The brunet let out a shout and jumped, the journal almost fumbling out of his hands due to being startled. He turned around and saw a Jack covered in dirt, leaves stuck to his even-messier-than-usual-hair, a big smile on his face. A smile that turned into a confused frown once he saw what Hiccup was holding.

 

“Aw man, you’re doing nerd stuff instead of climbing these totally rad trees? Is this boring you, man?”, asked Jack, looking a little hurt.

 

“What? No! It isn’t like that, Jack.”, explained the freckled teen hastily. “It’s just that… when I was going to start climbing, I found this weird tree made of metal that had this crazy machine inside and when I flicked a switch a hatch opened on the ground and inside it was this weird book!”, blurted out Hiccup in a tsunami of words, wild gesturing of hands, and ending in thrusting the book in Jack’s face.

 

The white haired teen blinked once, trying to process what he just heard, but then nodded as if in understanding (he didn’t really understand it). Gently pushing the book out of the way, back to Hiccup, Jack spoke up. “Oh… that’s very cool Hic! But guess what I found?”

 

Before Hiccup could ask, Jack pulled out from behind him a snapped off branch in the shape of a gnarled claw, a proud smile on his face. Hiccup arched an eyebrow, mind full of questions.

 

“How… no, why… do you have that?”, asked Hiccup slowly.

 

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. “Why? Because its hella cool! As for the how… I might or might not have reached the tree you had picked as the finish line and I might or might not have done a victory dance that might or might not have caused the branch I was standing on fall and break and I might or might not have a minor concussion but who cares!”, Jack waved the gnarled branch around happily. “This is proof that I kicked your ass fair and square, haha!”

 

Hiccup couldn’t even begin to think how to answer that. He made a mental note to find Jack an hospital before they got back but first. “Nevermind that! This book, Jack!”, He flipped the journal open excitedly and flipped through it, walking to Jack’s side to show its content to him. “This thing proves I was right! Someone in Gravity Falls had been investigating the weird stuff that happened in town and documented it! See? I wasn’t seeing things! Those are real!”

 

As Hiccup flipped through the pages, Jack watched a little unsure of what to feel. He wanted to believe his best friend, he really did. But all of these scribbles, drawings, photos… looked so fake. But he didn’t want to hurt the freckled teen’s feelings… that’s how Jack felt at least, until the brunet flipped past a particular page. He stopped Hiccup from changing the page as he pointed at the contents.

 

“Hey, Hic! That looks kinda like our trees, don’t they?”  
Hiccup stopped his excited ramblings to look at the page Jack was pointing to. Indeed, they did, and this motivated the brunet to read on.

 

_“Filifolia.”_  
_“Forest Spirit that inhabits rotting trees of Gravity Falls.”_  
_“Generally mind their own business and are non-confrontational, but they will turn mobile and violent if attacked or vandalized. Highly dangerous and carnivorous, these creatures are ironically unable to cross through any area that contains death.”_

 

As soon as Hiccup finished reading that out loud… as soon as it dawned on him and Jack what this meant, if it were true… It happened.

 

The branch Jack had on his hand started to shake wildly, trashing about and making the pair shout, the white haired teen dropping the branch as it scratched his cheek. Both of them took some steps away, horror in their faces as they saw the branch crawl away towards a big tree that had started to move… and up root itself, the surrounding trees reanimating themselves as well. Where once there was two empty holes now shone a pair of red lights and fanged mouths grotesquely started to form on the sickly colored wood of said trees, gnarled roots giving away to reveal feet. And all of the trees-No, the Filifolia, numbering in the fifteenths, were looking, no glaring at them maliciously.

 

Hiccup tried the first thing that came to his mind.

 

“L-Look, we can explain-”

 

But his nervous blathering was interrupted by a ear-piercing, bloodcurling screech from the biggest Filifolia on the group, and just as that happened, the group of forest fairies lunged for them.

 

It was clear diplomacy was out of the question.

 

Both males turned around and made a mad sprint… to wherever the hell they could flee to.

 

But what could they do?

 

“W-What the hell?!”, even Jack, daredevil as he was, was clearly terrified and confused. “W-What is going on?!”

 

“You upset an ancient race of forest spirits and now they’re out to kill us that’s what!”, said Hiccup, his mind racing for a solution.

 

“I-I didn’t mean to!”, said Jack, panic creeping in his voice.

 

“L-Look! That doesn’t matter anymore!”, shot back Hiccup, not really intending to pin the blame on Jack, “A-All we have to do now is run away from them and-”

 

And what?

 

Hiccup tried to think what to do and tried to remember the content of the Filifolia’s entry on the Journal. An idea crossed his mind as he remembered. He turned his face towards Jack, and shouted. “W-We have to get to the edge of the circle!”

 

“What circle?!”, panted out Jack, who despite being physically feat looked like he was a bit tired.

 

“T-There was a big circle of dead grass surrounding those things! The Journal said that Filifolia’s can’t cross places with death so if we cross t-that-!”

 

As Hiccup said that, he looked in front of him and there it was, a few meters away from them; the circle. As soon as they crossed that, they would be safe-

 

“LOOK OUT!”

 

Jack’s shout caught Hiccup’s attention, but that was on his mind briefly as he was suddenly launched forward by something that had collided against his back. The brunet fell down, being taken forward by incredible momentum, the thing that had crashed against him holding on him tightly as he rolled harshly on the dirt, earning quite a few of scratches and cuts until he finally crashed hard into a nearby, thankfully normal tree, the impact taking out the air out of his lungs completely.

 

Gasping out in pain, the brunet struggled to open his eyes, but when he did, the panorama looked grim. The Filifolias had caught up to them and they had him surrounded completely. The forest spirits broke formation slightly to allow the Alpha Filifolia passage and soon enough the monstrous plantlife-sans-one arm was towering over them, a viscous sap-like liquid falling from its gnashed fangs.

 

So this was how he died, Hiccup thought. He had been so close… but he had failed. He was gonna die. He was going to die, alone, with his feelings for Jack left unsaid. His family would be sad… he would never have the opportunity to do what he wanted to do. But amid this despairful realization, a tiny sliver of relief floated around in his heart; at least… Jack was safe. At least, his life had been worth something, if it meant the safety of his best friend. He could die without regretting that, here in this forgotten part of the forest, being held down hard by something-

 

“Leave him alone!”

 

That familiar voice rang out once more, but this time charged with a weird mix of anger and fear. Hiccup looked down and what he saw scared him but also warmed his heart. For Jack was there, fiercely holding on to Hiccup’s lean frame, a determined face glaring at the encroaching group of forest spirits.

 

“If you want to get my best friend, you’ll have to get through me first, you perennial jerks!”, shouted Jack at the animated trees with fierce defiance. Hiccup at once noted a new scratch, deeper than the first, on Jack’s face.

So that’s what had happened. Jack had saved him, had tackled him, in order to protect him from an incoming attack he hadn’t seen coming. Jack could have saved himself; he could have run away. Instead, though he knew it would likely end up with him dying, Jack had put Hiccup’s safety first over his own. Like he always did. And now, even though the white-haired teen was probably scared to death, he continued to fake bravado like he did even back then when they were younger; back when Hiccup was being bullied and Jack was outnumbered but he still defended him.

 

How little things changed despite how much time passed.

 

And yet, despite how touched Hiccup was, he felt regret. He… had forced Jack to make a decision that would cost them both of their lives… cost Jack’s own life.

 

All the pair could do is wait and see as the Alpha Filifolia let out a screech once more, the gnarled claws on its remaining hand fusing into a sharp looking spear. Hiccup closed his eyes tight as he saw the forest spirit lunge for them.

 

But the pain never came.

 

Daring to open his eyes, Hiccup saw the spear hanging in front of him, inches away from him… and yet, it didn’t reach them. It wasn’t like the monster had stopped its attack, no… it looked as if… the monster couldn’t reach them.  
The brunet looked down at his feet and saw that they were sitting outside of the circle of dead grass, just shy of the dividing line.

 

As to confirm it, the rest of the Filifolias started to lunge for them, but their attacks were repelled as soon as they reached the edge of the circle, forcefully sending them back, roars of frustration loud and clear.

 

They… they were safe. They had made it, by a stroke of luck.

 

Shakily, Hiccup and Jack stood up, still hugging each other tightly, never taking their eyes off the angry group of Filifolias as they slowly backed away from that part of the forest, both of them not letting go of each other as until they were far, far away.

 

==  
“That… was…”

 

“Insane. Completely off the charts.”

 

Those were the first words that came from the pair as soon as they made sure they were completely, a hundred percent safe.

 

They were still embracing each other, and it didn’t dawn on them until Hiccup started to calm down from his near-death experience. At once, he let go of Jack and stepped away, a red flush on his entire face. “S-Sorry, man… d-didn’t mean to…”

 

But as soon as Hiccup started to apologize, he was cut short by Jack’s very own. “Hey… Hic… sorry.”

 

Intrigued, the brunet inquired.“Huh? What for, Jack?”

 

The blue-eyed male looked genuinely upset. “W-Well… for not believing you about all this… supernatural stuff. We’ve been friends for so long and we have never lied to each other and I have said time and time that I would take a bullet for you and crap and yet… look at me. It took us nearly becoming a snack for a group of cranky trees to believe you… When I should have done so from the beginning.”

 

Hiccup smiled gently. “Don’t worry about it man. Honest. "If it hadn’t been for this journal…”, said Hiccup as he brought out the damaged book from inside his vest. “I wouldn’t have believed it either. And besides…”, the brunet scratched the back of his head bashfully, “You saved my ass back there. So… yeah, don’t apologize because I forgive you.”

 

Jack looked genuinely relieved. “I’m… glad.”

 

Hiccup smiled back at his friend before frowning. “We should really take a look at that wound you got though, before it gets infected.”

 

“What, this? Phssh, I’ve had worse.”, said Jack dismissively before relenting at the continued glare from Hiccup. “Fine, fine, mom! I’ll clean it up when we get home. Don’t make such a big deal out of it, Hic! A wound is proof that the adventure was a success!”

 

“And what an adventure it was!”, said Hiccup, letting out a dramatic sigh. “I’m all ready to retire for good from this.”

 

“Are you kidding, Hic?”, said Jack, incredulous. “You just found proof that you were right! That something weird is definitely going on in this town! That crazy journal of yours could be the very best that could have happened to us!”

 

“How… so?”, asked Hiccup, as he glanced at the journal in his hands.

 

“Think, Hic! Weren’t you complaining about how boring this town was? I know I do!”, said Jack as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, as he leaned on Hiccup and poked the book in his hand. “But this thing is the key to an exciting life! Full of mystery! Action! Danger! Don’t you want to investigate and see the things this book talks about? You do love books after all!”

 

Jack… had a point. This journal… was a godsend for these boring days of Summer. And Hiccup was genuinely curious about the mysteries of this town and the fate and identity of the author.

 

“C'mon! I’ll help you! What do you say, partner?”, asked Jack, once more practically begging.

 

That was all Hiccup needed to be convinced. He didn’t know what he was getting into, but with Jack at his side… his nervousness was almost nonexistent, and his excitement was at an all time high.

 

Hiccup nodded in response. “I guess… we can give this a chance… partner.”

 

And that marked the beginning of a very long, weird, and exciting summertime adventure for both teens.


	2. Chapter 2: Pulveritum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was for the Hijack March Madness Prompt: Dust. So, have some dust related shenanigans

“Hey, it could be worse, Hic!”, shouted Jack over his shoulder before dousing Snotlout with a blast of water from a modified water gun, before taking aim at Jamie and letting loose as well.

  
“Really?!”, answered Hiccup, his voice full of exasperation. “What could be worse than a semi-zombie apocalypse-”, shouted the brunet as he soaked Merida, “caused by a powder that transforms the people it touches into mindless secret spouting drones?!”

  
“It could be a semi-zombie apocalypse caused by a powder that transforms the people it touches into mindless **_naked_** secret spouting drones!”, answered Jack with a bright smile as he shot more townspeople, the eyes of the inhabitants of Gravity Falls glazed over, empty eerie smiles on their faces as they advanced on the three males that stood in the town’s main plaza.

 _“Well, that wouldn’t be so bad then, if you got infected Ja-”_ No, Haddock, Focus on the imminent doom in front of you!!

  
“You know, he has a point.”, answered Hiro as he followed Jack’s lead and showered the citizens of the town with precise shots. Likely practice from all those videogames he played.

  
“Don’t encourage him!”, chastised Hiccup, not letting the Japanese kid show him up as he scored two more hits- This time Stoick and Sheriff Blubs being the targets. “You and the Twins are not allowed to play Hide-and-Seek in the library anymore, Jack!”

  
The white haired teen turned his head, shooting Hiccup an indignant look. “How on Earth was I supposed to know one of the town’s weirdy thingies was stored under the librarian’s desk and that the Twins would find it?!”

  
“I think we had established already that there’s weirdness in all of Gravity Falls.”, said the green eyed teen with a deadpan tone as he nailed Gobber in the face with a splash of water.

  
“And to think I used to say that the most exciting aspect of this town was the arcade… you guys have been holding back on me with these secrets of yours!”, said Hiro as he got three more.

  
“It’s n-not like w-we didn’t want to tell you-”, began Hiccup before Jack cut in.

  
“It’s just that Hiccup is extremely paranoid about his self-image in front of others! God forbid NerdCup makes a fool of himself in front of everyone!”, answered Jack with a smile.

  
“Thank you for summing that up.”, finished the brunet as he focused once more on the task at hand.

  
Right, the task at hand.

  
It all had started as a normal day; Jack and Hiccup were discussing the origins of the journal and the whereabouts of the author after Hiccup’s shift at the library when the Thorston twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, decided to hold a random game of Hide and Seek in the building for no reason in particular, as always. And as always, Jack joined in.

  
The game came to a close soon after when the rambuctious twins lost interest and came out of the building covered in a weird, blue-ish dust. They left to mess with the town’s sheriffs afterwards. (Curiously enough, Jack decided not to go with them, which made Hiccup wonder… Jack never gave up a chance to get in trouble with the Twins.)

  
Things started to get weird, however, when an hour later Hiro, a local kid and friend of the two who they teasingly called boy genius (a nickname he had earned), turned up. He mentioned the Twins were acting weirder than usual, spouting whatever secret they had with no regards to others, not thinking of anything else, and overall looking very creepy with vacant smiles and empty eyes. And worse, it seemed other people in town were acting like that as well.  
Worried, Hiccup went through the journal after recalling the bluish dust he had seen on Ruffnut and Tuffnut and found an entry for Pulveritum, a powder crafted by the author as a potent truth-extracting substance that when sprinkled on the subject forced that person to tell any secret, no matter how deep. Worryingly, the entry mentioned that the effect is contagious if the affected subject touches someone and the effects are of indefinite duration. Naturally, the mysterious author locked away the substance realizing the danger it held… in the library of all places where the Twins managed to find it.

Fortunately, the entry made it clear there was a way to end the effects; if the subject is drenched in water, the effects dissipate.

  
Worried that, if left unchecked, the effects would spread to the entire town (and therefore making Gravity Falls an effective town of mindless truth spouting drones), Jack and Hiccup decided to engage in the “biggest, bestest water gun fight ever” as aptly put by the white haired teen, and enlisted Hiro for help, who had decided to give Hiccup and his “crazy Journal of weird stuff” a chance and modified some water guns for them to stand a better chance

  
They couldn’t let the inhabitants of Gravity Falls, their loved ones like this.

  
Plus, Hiccup would die if someone heard him say how much he loved Jack. He couldn’t risk it. They couldn’t fail.

  
The brunette had to hand it to Hiro and Jack, though. The water guns were working amazingly, packing a much better punch and water efficiency than store bought ones- Hiccup was already entertaining the idea of using these in a non-life-or-death scenario. And Jack, that lovable fool friend/crush of his, had a way to make life threatening scenarios seem like a play date. The white haired boy literally jumped into the fray, guns cocked and blazing, yelling out names for attacks and striking poses from the many animes he watched, uttering corny one-liners and doing acrobatic pirouettes all around the would-be zombies, deftly avoiding them, always light on his feet. Jack was like a wild wind, pure chaos and noise, and yet Hiccup couldn’t help but to be enthralled. Order was overrated, he realized, as he saw the pure, unadulterated bliss on Jack’s face.

  
Hiccup narrowly ducked under a mind-emptying, truth-filling hug from a Pulveritum-ified Heather and retaliated with a point-blank shot which pushed the black haired girl away and on to the floor. Crap, he had gotten way too focused on Jack. He had to keep it in his pants and keep his head in the game else he would become a burden on his friends. And so he did.

Despite how much Jack moved around and how it looked like he was fully invested on his own little world of water guns, the white haired teen was keeping a close look on his best friend. During every twirl and jump, Jack took opportunities to look at Hiccup, to make sure he was alright. It’s not like he didn’t think Hiccup couldn’t take care of himself, no. He of all people knew the brunet was resourceful and there was a reason Jack had full trust on the green eyed boy. But he also knew Hiccup all too well; that quick-witted teen had amazing powers of concentration which is a remarkable talent but also a double-edged blade. Jack had saved his friend from falling in so many holes and running into so many lamp posts, things that Hiccup ignored once he engrossed himself into whatever book of the week he was reading at the time. When Hiccup was on full concentration mode, he had the tendency to only focus on that one thing and ignoring everything else so understandably, Jack was worried. 

  
So whenever he could, Jack looked in his friend’s direction and covered his back, in case one of the zombified townspeople crept on the brunet. Jack would not -could not- let Hiccup be harmed. 

  
Not today, of all days.

  
And so the two watched each other’s backs without realizing. A certain Japanese kid, however, noticed what was going on easily and as he effortlessly cured the Truth-zombies, he smiled to himself. Those two were waaaay too obvious. But Hiro decided not to tease.

  
—

  
It took nearly all afternoon and some close calls and an incredibly epic last stand from atop the founder of the town’s statue, but in the end, the trio managed to subdue the plague entirely.

  
Jack whistled as he took a look at their handiwork, an arm going across his brow to wipe off the sweat. “Man, Tuff and Ruff really got around! They practically infected the entire town!”

  
Hiro collapsed on his butt, his water gun skidding across the ground. “You can say that again! Gods, next time I see them, I’m gonna kick them in the shins or something.”

  
“Y'know, its almost a shame they’re probably not going to remember any of this, and that we are sort of bound to a vow of secrecy,” lamented Hiccup as he sat down next to Hiro. “After this, they sort of owe us a life of servitude for saving their asses.”

  
“Hic, I know you always wanted slaves and to be recognized as a hero,” teased Jack, “but I think we must stop that train of thought of yours and maaaaybe get outta here soon.” said the white haired teen as the trio looked over the townspeople who were still out of it, “After all, we just kind of shot everyone here with these water guns and knocked them unconscious. I don’t think they’ll be very happy about that if they see us here.”

  
“Good point!”, said Hiccup as he stood up quickly, pointer finger raised up, Hiro following suit. “Last one gets mobbed by the angry crowd.”

  
And with that, the three teens scurried off, as far away as possible from any of the knocked out inhabitants of Gravity Falls as fast as their already tired legs could carry them.

  
—  
The sun was going down and the buildings of Gravity Falls were showered in that orange twilight light that Hiccup liked a lot; it was one of the few good things about Gravity Falls. Really, the sights around town were good once you stopped and looked for them. Although the sleepy town was boring itself, the very fact that it was still deeply seated in the middle of such natural beauty made it something special to see. Although Hiccup sometimes wished the town was more lively, this was one of the few things he wished stayed the same.  
And the brunet realized he had helped to protect the town, protect that beauty.  
All because of this mysterious journal he had found, and because of the friends he had.

  
He looked at his companions as they all sat next to him on the library’s steps, where all of this started. The three boys were catching their breath, the cool breeze caressing their skin in a pleasant way. In the stillness and calmness, Hiccup stole a look at Jack; his hair was messier than usual, and his white undershirt was sticking to the lean torso of his friend, no doubt because of all the sweat generated from running around with that stupid blue hoodie that now Jack was wearing tied around his hips.

  
Gods, even when he was all disheveled, his best friend was fucking breathtaking. He wasn’t even that bothered about how this situation was sort of Jack’s fault kinda anymore. He was just glad he had saved him and everyone in this town, even if their actions would probably go unnoticed to everyone else.

  
“Oooookay I’m getting out of here now since this atmosphere is making me veeeery uncomfortable!”, said Hiro in a rushed voice as he saw how Hiccup was looking at Jack, catching the attention of the latter and snapping the former out of his ogling. “I kinda need to go back to Aunt Cass’ before it gets dark or I’ll be grounded.”

  
“It’s cool man.”, said Jack as he stood up, completely unaware of what was going on, Hiccup standing up two, sporting a self-conscious blush. “Both of us were going to split too, it was kind of a very exciting day.”

  
“No kidding.” said Hiro with a smug smile and a shrug. “But you know what? I actually had fun, doom-and-despair scenarios notwithstanding. It’s not every time I get to battle zombies sort of, with my tech… sooooo…." 

  
Although Hiro was a very smart boy full of sarcasm and witty remarks, he still was a child, and though the Japanese kid often tried to act older than his age, he sometimes let slip tiny kid-like mannerism. And right now, he was swaying his arms in place, his eyes looking to the ground in a rare display of bashfulness, "Sooo I was wondering if, yknow, you guys ever need my help into one of your wacky mystery adventures… I would totally be up to helping you out, maybe.”

  
Hiccup smiled at that offer. “You don’t even need to ask. Discovering the mysteries of this town is kind of a tall order, so we need all the help we can.”

  
“Yeah!”, said Jack with a bright smile as he put his arm over Hiccup’s shoulder and leaned on him. “Keeping Hic out of trouble is kind of a full time job for me so I appreciate the help!”

  
Some playful shoves and laughs later, the trio waved at each other good bye, Hiro looking extremely… relieved? Was the word Hiccup was thinking of. And the brunet was relieved too. What a day today was; fighting off zombies-sort-of, finding out another mysterious object (rather, substance) in the town left by the author, and making a new ally? It was all like a blur to Hiccup.

  
But in that whirlwind of memories of the events, a single thing popped up in Hiccup’s mind. A detail that didn’t make any sense to him and that he was dying to know the meaning behind of. So, mustering all the courage he had inside of him, he turned to face Jack and asked him:

  
“Say, Jack, mind of I ask you something?”

  
The white haired teen turned to face him and with an easy going smile, he answered. “Not at all. Shoot, Hic!”

  
“Right, so, uh…”, began the brunet, feeling unsure all of a sudden. “So you know how sometimes a thing happens but at first you don’t really pay attention to it and even then it still bugs you but it only really starts to eat at you later on when you start really REALLY dwelling on it and-”

  
“Hic, you’re rambling.”, interjected Jack, amused by his friend’s nervous mannerisms.

  
“Right. Rambling. Yeah, that’s a thing that I sometimes do, yeah-”, began the brunet once more before Jack shushed him with a finger on his lips.

  
“Hic, breathe.”, said Jack with a patience that told this happened  a lot.  
With a sigh, Hiccup paused and took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts before he opened his mouth once more.

  
“I was just wondering…. y'know…”, said the green-eyed teen with the best nonchalant shrug he could fake. “You never turn down an invitation from the Twins. Like, ever. It’s like their scheming is a siren’s call to the inner prankster on you and its just-…. I was wondering why? Why did you like, you know… stay with me instead?”

  
Whatever reaction Hiccup was expecting from Jack, the one the pale teen was showing wasn’t one of them. All of a sudden, Jack turned beet red and uncharacteristically bashful, nervously rubbing his arm.

“Ah, well, you know…” began Jack, as he swayed on his feet, “Today was kind of a special day and all… Even I think it would be hella rude to just ditch you for some silly pranks…" 

  
"Special day…?”, asked Hiccup, confused, and this question made Jack blush even more, his face the very definition of embarrassment.

  
“Right… I guess its only really REALLY special enough for me to remember but it’s OK, don’t worry if you don’t remember Hic, I don’t hold it against you, man, really-”

  
“Jack, you’re doing the "Me” thing. Y'know, the rambling bit?“, interrupted Hiccup with a slight smirk. It was rare to see Jack ramble on so nervously about anything, since he was almost always being jolly or confident. "Calm down, and tell me… what’s so special about today?”

  
In response, Jack closed his eyes, took a deep breath and from his pocket he pulled out a damp folded sheet of paper and thrust it into Hiccup’s face silently. Curious, the freckled teen took the paper in his hands and slowly opened, his eyes going from the paper to Jack.

  
Inside of it, a crude drawing of Jack and Hiccup (literally stick figures but detailed enough to identify who was who) greeted the brunet. As Hiccup processed what he was seeing, Jack’s voice came in a hesitant, cheery tone.  
“Uh…. Happy 10th Friendshipnniversary?”

  
Hiccup looked at the drawing, then at Jack’s unsure shaky smile, then at the drawing once more and at Jack’s face for good measure and he wanted to mentally and physically slap himself as he came to realize what it all meant. A groan escaped his lips as he ran a palm through his face.

  
Good fucking job, Haddock, you forgot that today it was a special day.

  
Taking Hiccup’s reaction in the wrong way, Jack began to ramble once more. “Yeah so uh like, Friendshipnniversary is this word I kind of made up to celebrate the fact that today was one of the most important things to ever happen to me ten years ago, Y'know… today was the day it happened and it really was one the best things ever and I kinda wanted to honor it with a gift from me to you but I kinda suck at making things and drawing is not really my forte and then the drawing got kind of crumpled and wet because of the whole semi-zombie apocalypse deal which I also kind of caused accidentally making this special day especially awful and oh god I’m sorry Hic I-”

  
Hiccup interrupted the rush of words, his expression unreadable to Jack. Clutching the drawing, the brunet stared hard into the blues of the other and spoke in a slow, deliberate manner.

  
“So… you’ve been keeping count? All these years, I mean… ever since that day?”

  
Jack understood the question, but he was unsure of how to answer it or rather, what sort of reaction would he get from the brunet; Would he think him a creep? No, Hiccup would never. He never had judged him before, the white haired teen thought, so why would he now? Feeling reassured by himself, he nodded earnestly and then answered equally so.

  
“Yup. It’s just like I blabbered right now… You really helped, uh, me from a really dark place with your friendship, as you know… so I’m really grateful and this is a pretty big deal for me.”

  
Jack finished with a sheepish smile, so uncharacteristic of his… Hiccup knew he was being pretty serious, and the earnest sincerity behind his words tugged at his heart. Hiccup looked at the drawing that, despite being wet and crumpled, still was in one piece, and he smiled fondly. Sure, it wasn’t a work of art, but it spoke loud and clear its intentions.

  
Gods, what had Hiccup done to deserve someone like Jack as a friend?

  
He tore his gaze away from the drawing and stared at Jack with a soft smile, and in a low voice, he said: “Thank you, Jack.”

  
The feeling behind those words brought out a full blown smile from Jack, who walked over to the brunet and then playfully put his arm over his shoulder, hanging on to the brunet while he ruffled Hiccup’s hair with his other free hand. “No problem man. If anything, I should be thanking you!”

  
 _“You don’t even know the half of it. . Of how much you helped me… and what this kind of touching is doing to me.”_ , Hiccup thought as he chuckled and horsed around with the white haired teen a little more. After some good laughs, the duo finally untangled themselves from each other and in the brief silence between the two, Jack spoke up, a sly smile on his face.

  
“Sssssoooooo…. Freckles…. where’s my gift?”

  
 _Crap, he got me,_ thought Hiccup to himself before quickly coming up with a solution on the spot.

“Hmmmmm….,” said Hiccup pretending he was thinking long and hard about it. “I’ll let you beat me at Call of Duty today.”

  
“Hey! That’s hardly a gift at all! I always kick your ass at that game!”, complained Jack.

  
Hiccup crossed his arms, his eyebrow arched. “Oh really? That’s not what my 15 headshot streak says, buster.”

  
“You are so on, Hic. Your ass is mine tonight.” threatened Jack, his voice a playful growl as he pointed at Hiccup’s chest with his finger.

  
“Happy Friendshipnniversary or however you say that, too, Jack.”, finished Hiccup as he turned around with a confident smile and walked away toward’s the blue-eyed teen’s house, Jack quickly catching up and already setting up some kind of silly competition with conditions for the winner and the loser, something about the loser having to wear a shirt with a hole on the chest area the next day, but by that point, Hiccup had stopped listening fully because he was still dwelling on the fact that Jack had never forgotten, never stopped thinking about that fateful day that brought them together.

  
It honestly shamed Hiccup a little, because he though he was the devoted one and yet the date had slipped his mind. All because of that Journal, perhaps…? He had never forgotten before. Maybe Jack had been right early, he had been poring over the book way too much. But perhaps he could make this up… he had read some cool-and non-lethal- places in the book, so maybe tomorrow he could make it up.

  
But for now, he was going to enjoy his evening with his best friend.   
He felt like they had earned it, after saving the town and solving the problem in a way that would never resurface whatsoever.

  
—-  
With a soft click, the locked doors of the library opened silently, bright moonlight peering in through the openings and bathing the interior of the building and the slim figure of a well-dressed man, whose pale complexion was otherworldy as well. With deliberate yet graceful steps, the man walked into the building and with eerie, yellow eyes that almost looked like they were glowing, he scanned the lobby, looking, hunting for something.

  
His movements calculated, he walked over the receptionist’s desk and slowly lowered himself to gaze under it. In the darkness, it was hard to see, but he knew what he was looking for. After all, he had read about it after he had seen the effects of the substance this afternoon from his well-guarded mansion that overlooked the town. Yes, he knew what he was looking for already, it was just a matter of-

  
There, in the corner of the desk, near one of the walls of the fixture. A small, blue glint caught his eyes. A wry smile stretched over his face as he reached a gloved hand towards the substance, careful to not spill it all over him. It would be… troublesome if he ever started spouting all his secrets, to say the least. He noted a small hole on the wall of the inner desk, no doubt where the Pulveritum had been stored until some mindless sap stumbled on it and unleashed its effects on the town. But he had to hand it to those fools- it made finding this so much easier.

  
Thankfully, the dust itself had been contained in a satchel made from mythril- same material as the gloves he was wearing which he had crafted after reading more about the substance -, so it was easy to collect.  
It was almost insulting to him how easy it was to get, but beggars-which he wasn’t-can’t be choosers. With a satisfied hum, the man pocketed the Pulveritum and with the same silent movements, he left the building, closing behind himself and locking with a gaudy looking key he produced from his pant’s pocket. 

  
Like a shadow, he had gotten what he had set out to find. And no one was the wiser. And if this truth dust was real… then the likelihood than the rest of the stuff in that journal was real was on an all time high.

  
This town out on the sticks had gotten much more interesting all of a sudden.


	3. Chapter 3: Monotreme Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> most recent chapter dealio is here

“Hiccup, breakfast is ready!”

Somehow, those simple words rose Hiccup from the realm of sleep. With that weird aftertaste in his mouth and disheveled hair and grogginess, Hiccup woke up and stretched and yawned loudly, idly scratching his back before he started to gather his surroundings. Still half-asleep, Hiccup groped around for his prosthetic and snapped it on with practiced easiness and then stood up from his bed, only to be woken up fully by the sound of something falling down in front of his feet. One quick glance told him he had dropped the Number 3 Journal; apparently, he had fallen asleep reading it, again.

Groaning to himself, Hiccup picked up the book and glanced meaningfully at the tattered cover leather and the golden six fingered hand with a 3 on it. He still couldn’t believe he was holding something like this on his hands, he couldn’t come to terms with the fact that there was real, paranormal stuff out there. That magic and fantasy was real. And that someone had documented all of these things in secret.

And yet, even this book wasn’t completely forthcoming with answers. Amidst the pages and pages of entries there were some littered with codes and ciphers, some of the pages being fully written in this way.  He had tried decoding some of it last night, but without the key to the cipher that was pretty much impossible right now. He would have to dedicate more time in order to crack the code… but not today.  

Today, he had something else to do.

Getting ready, Hiccup put on a forest green t-shirt with a red skull on its chest, and some khaki cargo shorts, while also packing up a change of clothes and the journal in a small duffel bag. He was gonna need those for what he had in mind today.

Some moments later and Hiccup was walking into the living room downstairs, where the table was set with breakfast ready. Hiccup’s favorite, chicken and waffles, was beckoning to him, but before he started to dig in, he spoke up:

“Morning mom, dad!”

Stoick, Berk’s police chief and after mentioned father, lowered his paper and stared at Hiccup from across the table with a teasing glint in his eye. “Oi, looks like sleeping beauty finally rose from the dead.”

“It’s… nice to hear compliments to my appearance. Especially since I feel like I had the opposite of a beauty rest.” Answered Hiccup with a chuckle.

“Did you stay up reading again?’, asked Valka, Hiccup’s mom and forest ranger of the Gravity Falls Nature Association.

"You know me too well.”, said Hiccup with a smile before he started to dig in with haste.

“If ya keep that up you’re gonna end up looking like a raccoon.”, said Stoick as he too began to eat his food, just as Valka came to the table carrying her own stack of pancakes.

“A raccoon with a robotics degree at that!”, said Valka, with a pride on her voice so palpable it could be felt on the room like a third person.  

“That’s just a maybe, y'know… not set in stone.”, said Hiccup, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. Sure, he had pursued a robotics degree in high school. There was nothing he wasn’t more passionate about (aside from dragons, mysteries, and Jack), he felt right at home building robots and machines and he had a talent for that too! So when his teachers saw the skill he had, they immediately convinced him to apply to Harvard, stating he was good enough to get a scholarship or two.

Hiccup applied but he didn’t really have any expectations of getting in.

“It may be more set in stone than you think, my boy.”, said Stoick, suddenly joining in the parenthood pride Olympics with a big grin under his massive beard. With a swiftness that you wouldn’t expect from a man his size, he tossed Hiccup an envelope from Harvard. Ripping it open and giving it a quick glance-over, Hiccup quickly understood the mood of his parents.

“N-no way… they’re actually interested in my stuff?”, he mumbled, his voice a whisper with a sliver of excitement and disbelief.

The smile on Stoick’s face was so broad it was easily visible through his beard. You could say there was liquid happiness on Valka’s eyes. Hiccup once more stared dumbly at the letter on his hands and the more he stared at it, the more a bubble of excitement started to rise on the pit of his stomach.

All those years… all those years of perfecting his craft, being made fun of for being a nerd, were finally starting to pay off.

“…I’m going to Harvard… I’m going to Harvard!!!”, he shouted, a wide smile on his face. “Me! A guy from the sticks!!”

“Now now…”, said Stoick, still smiling fondly, “It’s not completely set in stone… yet. Don’t get too excited… haha!”, he said that but he couldn’t fight the excitement either.

“I’m so proud of you, Hiccup!”, said Valka as she gave him a tight hug. “And look, they even said they’re gonna send a letter soon! You’re practically in!” She finished as she gazed at the letter on the freckled teen’s hand.

“I… I cannot believe this…”, he said once more. This was the best day of his life and it wasn’t even noon yet. He was happy beyond words. He… he was going somewhere in life! He really was. And all he did was be a huge nerd!  

This day could only get better and better, he felt. And he hadn’t even started it. That’s right! He had stuff to do still with his friends today! He had to make Jack’s heartfelt gift and considering the text he got yesterday while playing videogames with Jack (and winning), he had the perfect plan… though he still wondered why Jack agreed to these plans to begin with, all things considered.

Finishing his food, Hiccup stood up, washed his dishes and gave his mom a quick peck on the cheek and a hug to Stoick and waved good bye, a spring in his step  that the other two hadn’t seen in quite a while.

As the door closed after his son left, Valka leaned on his husband, a fond smile on her lips. “He’s really come a long way since the accident, hasn’t it?”

Stoick nodded solemnly. “Ya, he has.”, he paused thoughtfully, and with a grunt, he continued. “And to think we have to thank that Jack kid for helpin’ him along…”

“Yes, we do.”, agreed Valka, the thankfulness in her voice slipping in a little. That white haired goofball had done a lot for her family as far as she was concerned.  

A small lull of silence passed between the two before she spoke up, with a hint of laughter in her sentences. “So… when do you think Hiccup is gonna tell him?”

Stoick sighed. “I donno, but the boy has certainly been takin’ his time. He better make up his darn mind before some girl sweeps that Jack kid away.”

“I don’t think Jack would do that, the way he looks at our son… I do wonder if he has realized his feelings though…”, commented Valka, her voice trailing off with wonder.

Stoick sighed once more. “And to think I hoped for grandchildren… Guess we gotta deal with the card we are given, huh?”

At that comment, Valka punched him lightly on the shoulder, the bigger man breaking out laughing and say “I kid, I kid!” In between breaths.

=====

“So, are you gonna ever tell us why in Black Shuck’s name are you wearin’ a t-shirt with a hole in ya chest?”, asked Merida as she stared at Jack who, like the rest of the people there, was in a normal swimming ensemble… all except for the light blue tank top with a massive hole in the front.

Jack looked completely unconcerned, a bright smile on his face as he answered. “Isn’t it obvious?”, he then proceeded to flex in front of her. “So that people can see my awesome physique! Y'know, sate their curiosity before I even take off my shirt?”

Rapunzel giggled and Merida rolled her eyes before poking Jack’s belly, making the white haired teen wince and laugh, breaking out from his flexing pose. “Yeah right, Jack. Can’t keep ‘em fans wondering how many freezey pops you ate to achieve that impressive gut.”

“I take great offense at the fact that you’re insinuating I have a gut!”, said Jack, pouting a little, while Merida, completely unphazed, kept going with a sly smile.

“I’m not implyin’ anythin’. I’m sayin’ you have one.”

Before Jack could reply to her, Rapunzel spoke up.

“So, why is your shirt like that?”, asked the blonde as she readjusted her mint green tote bag with a chameleon stamp.  

“Did you lose a bet against Hiccup again?”, asked Merida, her smile growing into teasing proportions.

Although the blush on Jack’s face was telling, his answer never came because said brunet came up to them, a smile on his face despite the sweat collecting on his brow.

“Heya! You guys ready?”, he asked as he settled the duffel bag in a more comfortable position. And as he did he was greeted by the sight of his smiling friends and… a sight he regretted causing. Why did he agree to Jack’s dumb bet? Now he had to deal with the fact that he was being taunted by the sight of his crush’s bare torso. He wished the week ended already so the effects of that bet were done and dealt with… but today’s activities would probably leave him a haunting image. Well, looks like Hiccup was gonna have material for relieving himself tonig- FOCUS HADDOCK!

“Yup!”, said Jack as he adjusted the platypus float tube around his waist. “I’m ready to be crowned King of the Pool!”

“Maybe of the kiddie pool…”, mumbled Merida to Rapunzel, who giggled.

Hiccup kept looking at Jack, but this time not with lust but with worry and wonder. “Y'know… Jack… Why did you even agree to this? You can’t swim so…”, his eyes wandered to the float tube on the white haired teen’s waist.

“Well, we humans can’t fly and we still go on airplanes!”, said Jack as if that made the most remote amount of sense.

“But… Jack…”, interjected Rapunzel, looking worried too. “Hiccup has a point… you can’t swim and you’ve never agreed to come with us ever before… ever since that time… so why…?”

Jack’s smile faltered a little, for just a second, but Hiccup noticed even if the others didn’t, before he answered with renewed enthusiasm. “Well, I thought it would be nice for a change to shake things up! And it’s never too late to learn how to swim right? I’d bet it would be tons of fun!”

For some reason, Hiccup didn’t think that was the real motivation behind this abrupt decision. That faltering smile he saw… made the brunet wonder if the real reason why he had decided to learn how to swim was because of that incident… back at the lake…

But seeing Jack trying to move on, to better himself all with a smile he was surely putting up with an incredible amount of effort… Hiccup couldn’t bring that up and question the white haired teen now. So instead, he smiled and gave Jack a pat on the back. With the other teen’s attention on him, he said. “Yeah! And I’ll…, Uh, we’ll help you learn, right guys?”

“Sorry for being the bringer of bad news but I don’t think that’s gonna happen, guys.”, said a familiar, female voice. The group of friends turned around to see Astrid walking towards them, clad in a sun hat, sunglasses, a striped tank top and green shorts and khaki sandals. Behind her came Hiro, but it didn’t look like they came together as the boy had a bright expression in contrast to the sour one in Astrid’s face.

“Hey guys! I’m not late aren’t I?”, asked the Japanese kid as they joined the group on the intersection’s sidewalk in front of Rapunzel’s house, the place closest to the Gravity Falls Public Pool. Hiro was already clad in his swimming outfit, wearing ladder shades and sunblock on his nose, sporting some red swimming trunks and looking really ridiculous wearing his trademark hoodie on top of his bare chest.

“You can’t be late to a thing that is not happening, no.”, answered Astrid with a huff.

“What are ya goin’ on about, Astrid?”, asked Merida to the blonde girl.

“Yeah, I thought you were gonna save us a spot at the pool and that’s why you went ahead.”, added Rapunzel, confused.

“Well, there’s not going to be a spot for ANYONE after you see this.”, said Astrid as she walked away, leading the confused group of friends towards the direction of the pool.

====

“You got to be kidding me.”, said Hiccup as he and everybody else took in what they were seeing.

He had to blink once, no TWICE, to believe what he was reading. The sign that usually said “Gravity Falls Public Pool” had been torn down and over it a big neon sign with obnoxious colors and lights read “Kuzcotopia”. To further cement this awful new reality, a notice had been pasted over the wired fence/slash door that led into the pool that read:  "This property now belongs to Kozmotis Enterprises and is set to be demolished in the future. Entry is forbidden to any unauthorized personnel.“

"I’m so gonna deck him in the face.”, threatened Merida with a low growl.

“Save some from me.”, said Astrid in a similar tone.

“But w-wait…”, interjected Rapunzel nervously, “Maaaaybe this time it wasn’t him…?”

“Oh come on!”, shouted Hiro as he gestured with his hands towards the neon sign. “This has all the signs of him! The gaudy, obnoxious lighting, that stupid notice of his adoptive father’s company… The name of the place!”

“Yeah… it had to have been him… Kuzco bought this place for his personal enjoyment… Again.”, said Hiccup with exasperation clear in his voice.

“Did someone use my name without paying up again?”

The group turned to greet, with disgust, the after mentioned man who was as usual being carried on the back of the biggest of his lackeys, a muscular, tan man they only knew as Kronk. Accompanying them was the smarter, and older, of Kuzco’s lackeys, a bitter woman named Yzma. Effortlessly jumping down from his seat that was strapped on Kronk’s back, the thin 18-year old jumped down and tossed a dog treat at the muscular man as a reward. “You know the rules. You say my name, you have to pay me 5 dollars.”

“Ugh, that’s not even a REAL rule, Kuzco.”, said Jack, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “You made that up to swindle tourists.”

“Oh yeah, I did that, didn’t I?”, said Kuzco with a smug smile. “Then again, since MY company owns like, what? 80 percent of Gravity Falls?  I might as well be in charge of this stupid hick town and of the rules that govern it.”

“Hah! Ya wish, you lousy princess!”, said Merida, her temper flaring up. “My father’s in charge ya know! There’s no way he’s handin’ this town over to a diva like ya!”

“And yet, I got my hands on this here pool.”, answered Kuzco in a tone mocking Merida’s accent. “I guess poor Mr. Poolcheck had enough of y'all breaking the rules with impromptu water fights, huh?”

While Jack whistled nonchalantly, Hiro spoke up. “So, now what? Are you going to rebuild this in a garish, self-aggrandizing attraction styled after your image again?”

“You hit it right on the nosey, my dear Hiro!”, said Kuzco with enthusiasm, soon after clapping. “Yzma, the blueprints please! And don’t forget to hand out the pamphlets!”

With a roll of her eyes and a grunt, Yzma handed over a roll of paper to Kuzco and gave each of the teens a copy of a pamphlet while Kuzco explained. “After I bought the laser tag and the skating park, I realized I didn’t have my own personal summer villa… so I thought… why not just buy that dumb pool and make it into something more grand! More fabulous! More… me! So I pulled some strings… did some convincing…”

“More like convincing puppy eyes to his father…”, said Astrid to Merida who snickered in response.

“* AHEM* SOME convincing!”, continued Kuzco, visibly annoyed, “And thus we arrive to today! Kuzcotopia will kick the sorry behind of any water park that exists on the earth, and the best part? It’s not the water slide my friends, oh no… it’s that it’s gonna be entirely mine and only for me, me, me!”

“Sounds… great…”, said Rapunzel, her face saying otherwise.

“So, what? You’re gonna build a whole water park for yourself? And at the same time depriving the entire town of it?”, asked Hiccup, trying to keep his outrage down but failing little by little. “And you don’t even feel bad about it?”

“Hmm, let me see… in order… Yes, yes and no to your questions.”, answered Kuzco, pretending to stop and think before answering curtly. “Also, just so you know, you are in private property so I’m gonna ask Kronk to make you leave. Like 10 minutes ago.”

“Uh… do I really have to do that?”, asked Kronk, actually looking unsure about all this.

“There’s no need.”, said Hiccup with a sigh, though still looking visibly angry like his friends. “Let’s go guys. Let’s leave Prima Donna Kuzco to his kiddie pool party.”

All they could do was walk away as a smug looking Kuzco watched them, before climbing back to his seat and ordering Kronk to carry both him and Yzma back home.

===

“Well, this blows!”, exclaimed Jack as he kicked a nearby empty can into the shrubbery. The dejected group of friends had walked away from the public pool sit and now were sitting around in a nearby clearing in the woods surrounding the place.

“Tell me about it!” Lamented Hiro as he pointed to his backpack, “I had packed away a ton of pool fun in this Quantum Pack of mine and now it’s gone to waste! Do you know how much it took to pack all of this last night?”

“Y'know what?!”, shouted Merida as she stood up, anger visible on her roundish face, “I’m gonna give that blockhead Kuzco a piece of my mind! And my fist!”   
  
“I’ll help you with that!”, offered Jack as he noisily cracked his knuckles, an act Merida copied gleefully.

“No, no… we are not getting in a fight with Kuzco and his croonies AGAIN.”, Hiccup interjected, trying to reason with the feisty duo.

“Yeah, I had to really wrap you good in bandages after last time.”, mused Rapunzel.  

“You didn’t have to use THAT much bandaging last time, y'know? It was just a few bruises.”, said Merida, an eyebrow raised.

“Hey guys, relax! I’m as upset as you are with Kuzco but really… we’re here to have fun, right? So let’s do fun stuff instead!”, proposed Hiccup.

“But I really wanted to go swimming, Hiccup…”, said Rapunzel.

“Weelll… maybe we can still do that.”, said the freckled teen as he reached into his bag, an action that garnered excited looks from Hiro and Jack, but a confused reaction from the rest of the group.

“Hiccup, what is that book?”, asked Astrid as soon as she saw the red leather cover of the Journal.

“This is…”, began Hiccup, giving looks to the book and Astrid, Rapunzel and Merida, “OK, remember how I always said that there was always something weird about this town, what with the feeling of being watched, seeing shadows out of the corner and that one incident with the noodles at school?”

The three girls gave him a nod.

“Well, you see…”, and at once, the brunet went on and explained the book’s nature and the circumstances behind its discovery. At first, the three girls were reluctant to believe the words of the freckled teen, but with Hiro and Jack supporting Hiccup’s explanation, the three came around to believing him.

“So that there was the reason I was all doused in the middle o’ da street with the rest of them townsfolk, en'it?”, asked Merida, recalling the incident with the Pulveritum.

Hiccup nodded.

“Yeah! I remember I sniped you from like 10 feet away right in the face!”, said Hiro proudly, earning him a punch in the shoulder from the red haired girl.

“It all sounds so fantastically unbelievable… and yet I can’t deny it…”, said Astrid, musing all the information she was just given. “It would explain that weird afternoon with the entire town waking up wet in the middle of the street, though…”

“Oooh, this is so exciting!”, said Rapunzel, shaking her fists enthusiastically, “To think there is a book in Gravity Falls I haven’t read yet! And full of mysteries too!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, right?”, said Hiccup with a smile, “I just wish I could read all of it… some of its contents are encrypted with this weird cipher symbol thingie…”

“Maybe I can help!”, suggested Rapunzel, almost prying the book from Hiccup’s hands, a glint in her eyes. “I’ve read every book in the library and there were a lot of encryption methods documented there!”

“Before we turn this into the bookworm happy hour, though!”, interrupted Hiro, separating Hiccup and Rapunzel with a pool noodle he had, Hiccup presumed, pulled from his Quantum Backpack, “Why did you take out the Journal, Hiccup? Do you think it can solve our current problem?”

“Oh, right!”, Hiccup said, remembering the very reason why he had pulled it out of his bag. “You see, this journal has a lot of info on mysterious creatures, but It also has information on peculiar places and a map of the town. So maybe we could find a nice lake or creek to swim on, using this.”

“Oh! Oh! My turn, then!”, said Jack as he snatched the journal from Hiccup’s hand. “It’s my turn to choose today’s adventure!”, he declared as he went through the journal’s pages at a blinding rate, leaving the freckled teen at bamboozled.

“B-b-b-but… Jack-!”, began Hiccup but he was interrupted by Jack’s sudden “Eureka!” Shout. While Rapunzel mumbled in the background that that wasn’t how Eureka was pronounced, Jack showed the group the page he had landed on. On it was the detailed drawing of a beautiful waterfall surrounded by forests, a pristine looking lake at the bottom of the rushing water. The page’s title read…

“Monotreme falls, eh?”, read Merida out loud as she scanned the pages.

“Never heard of it before.” Admitted Astrid, who had an interested look in her face.

“Well, it’s only natural,” interjected Rapunzel, “it says here on the page that the place was famous with the settlers of the town, but it was forgotten with the passage of time.”

“Looks pretty, doesn’t it? I bet it’s the perfect place for a good swim or my middle name isn’t Frost!”, said Jack, positively glowing with excitement.

“Your middle name isn’t Frost, Jackson Hubert Overland”, said Hiccup with a set of narrowed eyes and a scowl.“

"Shut it, Horrendous.”, answered Jack with a deadpan tone of his own, before turning back to the other members of their group. “So, what do ya say? There’s even a map to the place here, so I’d say a little trip to the Monotheme-”

“Monotreme”, said Hiro.

“That”, continued Jack, unperturbed. “Is in order! Who’s with me?”

“But, Jack!”, shouted Hiccup, looking like he had lost his composure. “We can’t just go on a whim to the first place you see in there! You know very well that the things in that journal are potentially life threatening!”

“That’s rich coming from the guy who thought it was a good idea to do bungee jumping with a home-made-non-complying-with-standard-safety-regulations bungee cord.”, retorted Jack, unamused.

“Listen, we agreed to never bring that up again.”, insisted Hiccup, index finger raised.

“Please, Hiccup!”, begged the white haired teen. “This could be the chance we need to have some mad Summer fun! And it could also be the chance for me to get over my phobia of water.”

“B-But…”, began the brunet before being interrupted by Astrid.

“C'mon Hiccup. It’s not like you to back down from adventure.”, said the blonde with a smile.

“We’re already carryin’ around all these bloody swimming junk and we’re packin em swimsuits on so why not?”, insisted Merida.

“Besides! Look at this passage here!”, declared Jack as he shoved said excerpt of the book in Hiccup’s face. Green eyes scanned the pages. Hiccup found what Jack was referring to at the very bottom of the page.

“Aside from the rather innocuous nomenclature and secluded location from civilization, the Monotreme Falls are a rather picturesque location, perfect for relaxation and perhaps some cavorting and swimming.”

With a sigh, Hiccup took his eyes from off the Journal and looked at the expectant group of friends. Succumbing to peer pressure, he ran a hand across his forehead and shook his head. “Alright… fine. Let’s go. I hope we don’t regret this.”

As soon as his words left his mouth, sounds of celebration from his friends reached his ears and then he suddenly found himself in a strong embrace. It took Hiccup a few seconds to recognize the fact that he was being held rather tightly by Jack and as soon as he processed the fact that he was getting a closeup of Jack’s hair, Jack’s biceps showing as he hugged the hell out of him and Jack’s bare torso making contact with him… he felt color quickly rushing to his entire face.

“ThankyouThankyouThankyou Hic! You won’t regret this!”, shouted Jack, squeezing his friend once more before joining the rest of his friends in celebration.

Yeah, Hiccup wasn’t regretting his choice after that little show.

——

The group looked quite silly in their swimming get up, Hiccup thought, as they made the trek into the depths of the forest, following the map on the Journal to the specified falls. In normal circumstances, the dimly lit, eerily silent and towering presence of the trees that surrounded them would have put anyone in high alert… but the group seemed to be too into whatever thing they were talking about that they barely noticed the creepy atmosphere. Well, Hiccup did notice it…

“But does anyone ever listen to Hiccup? No, they don’t.” He muttered under his breath before sighing and looking at the book on his hand, making sure they were following the right path.

“So, what in blazes is a Monotreme anyways?”, asked Merida to everyone in the group, her head tilting to the right slightly as a confused expression adorned her face.

“Oh, oh!”, began Rapunzel as he hopped slightly with excitement. “Monotremes are basal mammals of the genus Prototheria that lays eggs instead of giving birth to live young like marsupials and placental mammals do! There’s only four species of Echidnas and the duck billed platypus in this order of mammals and they’re super fascinating and super duper cute!”

“There’s that encyclopedia-like obsession of yours.”, said Hiro, teasingly but visibly impressed. Rapunzel blushed slightly.

“Huh. So what you’re saying is… there’s platypus living in the middle of Oregon?”, asked Astrid.

“That’s almost as weird and unusual as the nymphs that attacked us.”, said Jack impressed.

“Definitely.”, concurred Merida.

“Oh, but this is great! We’re gonna swim with platypuses! It’s gonna be so cute and safe!”, said Rapunzel.

“Er, you do know that platypuses are venomous, right?”, interjected Hiccup, but they didn’t seem to mind.

And the conversation carried on in this same manner for a while, jumping from one inane topic to another, the group of teens having fun with and at the expense of each other. Amid the lush and calm greenery and the sounds of laughter and camaraderie, Hiccup started to ease off a little. He was still overly alert but not like before, where the drop of a pin would make him hyperventilate. It didn’t take long for even that to completely subside once they arrived at their destination.   
  
“Whoa…”, was all the group could say once they saw the scene before them. It was almost out of a fairy tale, really. In a clearing where the trees parted away laid the Monotreme Falls. A cliff covered in moss rose in front of a crystal clear lake, the waterfall coming down with enough force to be beautiful but not deafening. Hiccup could even see some fishes swimming in the sizable lake.  

“That is peculiar…”, said Hiro all of a sudden. “There’s obviously a river flowing into the lake but there’s no river flowing from this lake… Where does all the water go?”

“Maybe there’s a subterranean river?”, suggested Astrid.

“Guys. Guys…”, said Jack as he stepped forward. “We could certainly deliberate nerdy reasons for why this cool as hell place defies all kinds of logic… orrrrrr…. We could jump in and have the time of our goddamn lives!” And without further warning, the white haired teen took off whatever remained of his shirt in a swift motion (an action that embarrassed Hiccup to no end) and jumped into the lake, loud laughter heard all the way up to when he plunged into the lake.

…

…

“He totally forgot he doesn’t know how to swim, didn’t he.”, said Astrid, dumbfounded.

“I’ll get him.”, said Hiccup, panic clear in his voice as he ran into the lake and jumped in to save his white haired crush.

——

After that little mishap, which ended with Hiccup carrying a soaking wet Jack to the shore, the friends started to get ready for their outing. Hiccup changed his normal prosthetic leg into one more fitting for swimming (one that he had built with… someone’s help.) and took his now wet shirt. Astrid and Merida started to set up some towels in the grass for the group to sit on while Rapunzel passed around some sunblock after applying some on herself. Hiro, spot of sunblock on his nose, took off his Quantum Backpack and with a flourish that got everyone’s attention, dropped it into the lake. It only took some moments for the contraption to resurface, suddenly transforming in front of their eyes into a floating inflatable boat.  

“Captain Hiro, ready to take on the seven seas!”, exclaimed the Japanese kid with a proud smile on his face.

It was an almost cliché scene straight out of a teen flick, one would think, if they saw the group of friends having fun like this. Merida and Astrid were challenging each other in swimming races from one edge of the lake to the other while Rapunzel dived into the clear waters of the lake and chased and looked at the colorful fishes swimming around her, Hiro helping by throwing bread crumbs from a sandwich he was eating into the water to lure the fishes near.

Meanwhile, Hiccup and Jack were well underway into their swimming lessons.  

“I think I finally got this buoyancy thing down, Hic!”, said Jack excited as he floated in place momentarily before dipping a little below the water’s surface and rising above it again, quickly grabbing ahold of Hiro’s boat.

“It’s all about breathing, Jack.”, reassured Hiccup. “You think you’re ready for the next step?”

The white haired teen looked from the boat, to the water, and into Hiccup. It was clear he was still very nervous, but he was also confident and a risk taker by nature, so he nodded. Hiccup smiled, trying to reassure him.

“So.”, began Hiccup, realizing he was gonna need reassuring himself for the next step. “We’re gonna practice the actual swimming now.”

“A-Already…?”, said Jack, his smile faltering a little. “Aren’t we going a little fast, Hic? I can barely keep afloat and now you want me to swim?”

“Well, swimming IS floating… and moving.”, Stated Hiccup before shaking his head. “Don’t worry, its easy. Here, I’ll help you.” Said the brunet as he slowly extended both of his hands towards a confused Jack. “Hold on to me. I’ll… pull you while you practice kicking  to move forward and keeping yourself afloa-”

Jack took Hiccup’s hands so fast the freckled teen lost his train of thought. It was such a simple gesture and sure, his friend had no romantic intentions behind the action but it still made Hiccup’s heart flutter. The green eyed teen scrambled mentally to regain his composure.

“A-alright. We’ll do some laps around the lake to get you used to it and then you’ll try it solo, OK?”, asked Hiccup, to which Jack just nodded.

Just as Hiccup had expected, despite Jack’s bravado, he was so nervous he took the kicking exercise a little too seriously as he splashed water all over noisily and frantically, the poor guy apparently scared with the idea that he was going to sink if he ever stopped kicking. Gradually, however, Jack started to relax, breathing in and out slowly and making his movements less frantic and more precise. Soon enough the anxious smile on his face became more relaxed and genuine. Hiccup even dared to say he looked like he was having fun. As proof, Hiccup had been holding Jack’s hands firmly through the exercise (an action that set Hiccup’s heart aflutter) but as Jack gained confidence he started to let go slightly more and more, against his own carnal wishes, in order to ease Jack into trying for himself. It was at the end of the second hour that Hiccup was only leading Jack by the tip of his fingers, pulling him along only slightly.

Two hours where Hiccup had Jack’s undivided attention. It was weird to call this an intimate moment but Hiccup thought it was. No one had started to tease them or even bother them or talk to them during the whole lesson. They probably sensed this was an important thing for Jack, and Hiccup assumed the same as well; that is… the true reason Jack was trying to learn how to swim.

“Looks like you still can’t move pass that, despite how much you try to look like you did, huh Jack…? Hiccup thought to himself.

It was the only thing that explained Jack’s newfound determination to rise above his phobia of water. And how could he not be afraid of it? Water was heavily associated with the accident that cost Jack his sister. Ice skating and swimming were taboo for the group of friends and Jack himself, so it was surprising that Jack had been the one to propose this idea of swimming. But Hiccup understood, well everyone in his friend group understood, that this was Jack’s idea of trying to move past that. Stuck in the past yet trying to move forward, a veritable human contradiction.

Given all of that, there was no way Hiccup wasn’t going to help him. This was beyond helping out someone because it was your crush; it was what Hiccup thought, the least he could do for his best friend of all time. He owed him this much and Odin damn it all if he was going to let him down.

The bright smile on Jack’s face bolstered Hiccup’s resolve to him through this even more. The white haired teen looked beyond ecstatic with his progress, and in a sudden surge of confidence, he let go of Hiccup completely and swam away on his own. He struggled a little to keep himself afloat at first, but he eventually smoothed out his form and he couldn’t look-and be- happier.

"Look, Hic! Look! I’m swimming! I’m like a goddamn sea otter now!”, yelled Jack, his blue eyes alive with happiness.  

He was simply breath-taking in the water, Hiccup thought. He had been trying so hard not to sneak a peek at his almost-completely-bare chest back when he was still wearing the shirt with a hole on the chest from their last bet, but now that he was shirtless it was unavoidable and the brunet had been trying his darnest to not outright ogle his best friend’s lean but toned  and defined body, not having a lot of muscle definitely but enough to tease the mind… Slightly marked abs and some nice pecs and that nice happy trail that betrayed Jack’s natural auburn hair color…

Hiccup thanked the Norns that his lower half was underwater, making It harder to appreciate the hard on he was sporting. He had to control himself.  There was always time for that later… waaay later…  

He decided to focus on helping his friend instead.

“Alright, sea otter, don’t get too excited and swim too far away or a shark might eat ya!”, teased Hiccup as he easily caught up with Jack, offering pointers to his friend. 

=====

Hiro had to hand it to himself, he had outdone himself this time. How many teens can say that they had built a storage unit capable of carrying a motorboat sized float that actually works like a motorboat with all the necessary implements for navigation and water motion? Not a lot, he ventured. Yep, Hiro was proud of himself. And he was sure that that person would also be proud of-

No. Nope. Not going down that path again. Moping and dwelling on the past was not on the menu today.

Trying to steer his mind away from that train of thought, Hiro redirected his attention to the myriad of buttons, lights, levers and screens that bombarded the Japanese kid with information on the current state of his invention. After all, this motorboat was outfitted with the latest cutting edge technology in the world, with sophisticated sensors, highly maneuverable parts for the best control in the world and the most comfortable seats this side of Oregon-

“Hold on, what is THAT?”

Hiro had been focusing so much on focusing his focus away from that awful topic he didn’t want to focus on that he realized he wasn’t really focusing on what currently was on his eye’s focus. Now that he was actually focusing clearly, he had realized that his Freaking Outstanding Cool Ultra Scanner had gotten something on his focus.

A weird shape was moving, no, swimming, at an inhuman speed. And there certainly wasn’t anything human on that shape aside from the number of limbs, at best. Hiro recalled at once how weird this town was, how the supernatural and unscientific was real, and alarms blared on his mind. And also outside of it as he pushed the big emergency button on the boat’s dashboard. He clumsily leaned towards the microphone connected to the boat’s intercom system and spoke at once.  

“Hey, guys! This is your captain speaking…. GET OUT OF THE WATER AT ONCE! I REPEAT! GET. OUT. OF THE WATER. AT ONCE!!”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Hiro turned his attention once more towards the F.O.C.U.S’ screen, searching frantically for the unknown interloper lurking in the waters of Monotreme Falls. Maybe it was because of the combined noise coming from the intercom and the alarms but the humanoid figure had stopped swimming around aimlessly and was now swimming… towards the retreating figures of their friends.  

An extreme fear seized Hiro’s heart as he saw the figure encroaching on his friends. He hurried  towards the steering wheel, hoping he would make it in time.

—–

Everyone, including Jack, was confused once the alarms started blaring. But that confusion gave away as soon as they heard their friend’s frantic plea. Still unsure of what was going on, but being smart enough to realize that whatever that was going on was serious, they followed Hiro’s orders and made their way to the shore. Astrid and Merida were the most used to swimming, so naturally, they left them behind and reached the shore shortly after the warning was given, with Rapunzel trailing behind mostly because of the weight of her braided hair. Well, that and the fact that she had to give up the pretty rocks she had found on the lakebed.  

Jack was getting frustrated, and perhaps a little worried and scared, at his own lack of swimming finesse. But mostly, he was getting angry at himself for putting Hiccup at risk, since said boy refused to leave his side, swimming alongside him, his reason being that “he wasn’t going to leave Jack alone with whatever was scary enough to send scientifically-inclined Hiro into such a freak-out”.

Jack admired Hiccup’s self-sacrificing nature but it also pissed him off. It wasn’t fair that Hiccup was in danger because of someone else’s fault. His own fault. It wasn’t like Hiccup did this for everyone, he only made those acts towards people he trusted. Or those that used to bully him back when he was smaller and awkward-er. It was a quality Jack liked and hated at the same time.

“Hic, please. Just get out of here, OK? I know you can swim faster than this.”, urged Jack, knowing the answer to his plea already.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “I told you, I’m not going to-”

The rest of that sentence was cut short as Hiccup was suddenly, and violently, jerked underwater, his surprised scream drowning beneath the rippling surface of the lake.

Jack’s blood went cold. The scene unfurled in front of him so fast to even react, and yet also in such a slow motion Jack had the time to scan the sudden fear and surprise on Hiccup’s face. He didn’t like what he saw. No, he didn’t like how this was developing at all. A scared Hiccup, a Hiccup that was getting hurt because of his own stupid fault, a Hiccup that was in danger. A Hiccup that was going to die because of his own failings.

He was going to lose Hiccup just like he lost Emma.

Franticness in his heart and actions, Jack quickly shot his arms towards Hiccup and, miraculously, managed to grab onto a freckled hand. Never in his life had he gripped someone else’s hand this strongly. He pulled and pulled desperately, trying his best to not sink along with him, but despite his best efforts, he was starting to sink along. But he wasn’t letting go, he wasn’t going to lose his best frien-

All of a sudden, the force pulling both of them down gave up and Hiccup resurfaced abruptly, coughing and splattering water out of his mouth. Relief washed over Jack and he pulled Hiccup along in towards the shore at a frustratingly slow pace. Thankfully, whatever had tried to drown Hiccup didn’t attack them again and, with the help of the girls, they climbed out of the water.  Hiccup collapsed on his back, still coughing, and Jack fell down on his own rear, both of them breathing heavily.

“Oh my gosh, are you guys alright?!”, asked Rapunzel, worry clear on her eyes as she looked at both of them, no doubt looking for injuries. She had brought Hiccup’s bag towards him, handing towels to both of the boys.

“Hiccup, where is your leg?”, queried Astrid.

She was, of course, referring to Hiccup’s prosthetic leg. Jack noticed it was indeed missing. The freckled teen coughed out his words as he spoke. “Had to… undo it…”, He took a deep breath before continuing. “Or else that thing was going to… pull me under.”

“What thing?”, asked Jack.

A loud splash behind them was the answer. The shadow of something sailing over their heads caught the group’s attention. Something had jumped out of the lake and had landed a few feet away from them. And that something was definitely not human. Hiccup went for the Journal, recognizing the creature that stood in front of them.  

“A glass dome filled with water and surrounded by a crown of seaweed on top of their head, blue reptile skin, a duck’s beak, a turtle shell on their back and webbed hands and feet that allow them to swim at incredible speeds.” Said Hiccup as he read off the passage, “The Kappa is a Yokai or Japanese folk ghost of worldwide renown. Known for their supernatural strength, superb swimming skills and love for wrestling and cucumbers, one should never swim in areas where these monsters live lest they invoke their wrath and end up being drowned.”

The entry on the Journal and picture on said entry matched the creature in front of them perfectly. And on its left hand was…

“Knickers, he has your darn leg on its hand there Hiccup!”, pointed out Merida.

“B-but…!”, said Jack as he took the Journal from Hiccup’s hands and flipped the pages to the Monotreme Falls entry and showed it to his friends. “The Journal says this at the bottom of the page!”

“"Aside from the rather innocuous nomenclature and secluded location from civilization, the Monotreme Falls are a rather picturesque location, perfect for relaxation and perhaps some cavorting and swimming.”

As soon as Jack finished reading the passage, impressively, from memory, the bottom of the page unfolded slowly, revealing an extra passage on it.

“If it weren’t for the local population of aquatic and dangerous Yokai, that is. Never swim here, ever”

A dead silence enveloped the group as this revelation dawned on them.

“Y'know…”, began Hiccup. “That gag would have flied better if this was a visual medium”

“Who the fuck writes a book like this?!”, shouted Jack, angry at the author of the Journal for this stupid decision.

But before they could argue or talk anymore, the Kappa lunged at them, barely giving them any time to scream or react as the otherworldly being closed in onto them. Jack closed his eyes, preparing for the worst as feelings of fear raced through his mind. He only hoped the suffering would end fast, regret filling his heart as he thought how he had put all of his friends in danger and how there wasn’t anything that he could do to help them or himself. All he could do was savor the last minutes of silence left in his life as the end surely came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jumpin' cliffhangers batman
> 
> hope the next chapter will resolve this quickly unlike that one long fanfic of mine which will remain unnamed
> 
> see ya'll!


End file.
